This book is really great! It develops more of Abbie and Monte's relationships, taking us through their rough times. It's very excitng too! Way to go Kristen!

I really loved this book about romance, and honor in the state of Colorado in the Post-Civil war era. Abbie and Monte are great characters and the plot took me off guard a couple of times. I like all of Kristen Heitzmann's books so far. They aren't dull, boring and same old kind of plot all the time. She is doing a great job on her books. Abbie is wondering why Monte's property is being sabotaged and when her determination takes over, a gun battle takes place and the results leaves Abbie devastated and shaken. Monte is being pulled back in the days of the Civil War and there is one enemy he must fight to protect Abbie and his ranch before it is too late. It shows us that God is with us in all we do and will forgive us for our sins. All in all this is one great addition to Kristen Heitzmann's ROCKY MOUNTAIN LEGACY series. You won't be disappointed in this book! I certainly wasn't!

I loved this book! It was so good I read it twic

Albert Barnitz was a Captain in the Seventh Cavalry. He was wounded and not a member of the unit by the time of its' famous defeat at the Little Big Horn. Barnitz through his letters to his wife describes life on the Plains with the Seventh Cavalry and it's Lieutenant Colonel Custer. His first hand description of events he experienced and personalities he knew gives life to persons and events from Western history. This book will interest those desiring a first person report of life in the Seventh Cavalry on the Great Plains.

This book is composed of Barnitz' personal diary and letters written to his wife, which she conviently kept over the years. Additional information is detailed and follows the letters and diary entries in chronological order. Barnitz enjoyed writing, wrote his wife often and made regular entries in his diary. The book is full of interesting phographs, many which I have never seen before, even though I have been a Little BIg Horn buff for quite a while. An excellent biographical glosssary is included that includes the histories and significant events of many important Indian War personalities. A must for any serious Custer library.

The edited letters and journals of Capt. Barnitz and his wife provide a gripping picture of the experiences of an officer in the early years of the Indian Wars. The book also provides wonderful insight into how Custer ran the 7th cavalry and what his officers thought of his leadership. A truly enjoyable book!

Butte, Montana, has a rich history with stories that just seem too preposterous to be true! ("Copper Camp" written in 1930's is good example).

Michael Malone, a historian at Montana State in Bozeman, must have felt the same way. He did some good, scholarly research, and found out that many of the wild tales WERE true!

The book is VERY readable, almost like a novel, filled with some wild stories about how the three "Copper Kings" (Butte's version of "Robber Barons") worked, wheeled, dealed, cheated, competed and conspired to make as much money as they could from "the richest hill on earth."

In the mix are many stories about the everyday Butte residents, who, to this day, are actually friendly, big-hearted people...who put their hearts and backs into the building of the town.

Butte, Montana truly is "as ugly as sin" (quickly verified by any who has been there), "and just as fascinating."

This is a highly readable and well-researched account of what must be one of the most fascinating towns in the United States. As anyone who has visited Butte can attest, the town possesses a cultural richness and idiosyncratic character unmatched anywhere in the US west, maybe the whole country, and Malone's book captures this nicely. I particularly enjoyed the discussion of political machinations in Montana around the turn of the century, which make today's politics look anemic by comparison. If you have any interest at all in Montana/western history, political economy, mining or politics, I couldn't recommend this book more highly.

BENTEEN'S SCOUT GIVES GREAT VISUAL ACCOUNT OF CONTRVERSIAL EVENT THAT IS RARELY EXPLORED IN DETAIL,USUALLY INACCURATELY. THIS BOOK IS A MUST-ADD TO ANY SERIOUS CUSTER COLLECTION.EXPLAINS BENTEEN'S ACTIONS AND ROUTE ALLOWING BETTER INVESTIGATION OF LITTLE BIGHORN DEBACLE.

Roger Darling has done such an excellent job that it makes one wish that you could saddle a horse and ride across the bluffs as Benteen and his battalion did after leaving the divide. While touring the LHB I was personally able to see where Benteen turned to the left on his scout on what appears to be pretty broken county. Darling's logical determinations finds the three lines of bluffs that Lt. Gibson and his platoon crossed including his final viewing point on the thrd bluff before returning to Benteen and the Battalion in a valley and starting the oblique to the right to join Custer. Excellent four page fold out of a detailed map of the route indicating landmarks, and the geography of the land including elevations, streams, valleys, the morass etc. Although Custer sent messengers to Benteen authorizing him to advance to the next bluff, Darling makes an excellent case that Benteen the expert soildier failed to inform Custer by courier that he found no Indians in the LBH valley to the south or that he was progressing for a return to Custer. Darling notes the land is not as rough as generaly perceived and the book continues to make one think that Benteen could have been a major contributor to Custer's final scene whether the conclusion would have been different is a major question. Short book in pages but concise detail with lots of pictures and the outstanding map.

The book was an interesting account of Bird's travels through the Rocky Mountains, but as I read it, I kept wondering why, why, why? Why would a 41-year old woman travel through the Rockies on horseback in winter? Living in the area where she traveled, I appreciate the descriptions of the mountains and the awesomeness of nature which she elegantly describes. The book is an interesting travel log of her journey and adventures in 1873.

After 125-plus years, Isabella Bird comes across as a formidable, judgmental, frumpy and brave (if not foolhardy) woman who saw parts of Colorado at a time and in a condition that a lot of us wish we could have seen it. Her standard for measuring anything human (character, behavior, diet, education, etc.) can pretty much be summed up in the formula "English and Christian, good; everything else, bad."

She was keenly observant, although her writing style seems overwrought, romantic and sentimental (I'm trying not to say "cheesy") by our standards.

Most remarkable, though, is her bravery and her (apparent) charisma. By her account, she was welcomed wherever she went, and even the grotesquely grizzled recluse Jim Nugent fell for her -- she hints that he proposed marriage. And she went places alone, in winter, that you are more likely to read about these days in cautionary tales from the Colorado State Patrol or a search and rescue unit, where the protaganist ends up in a coffin.

Was she telling the truth? Maybe. Probably. Better-educated people than I seem to take her at her word. And the detail in her stories has the ring of authenticity. So, OK, let's take her at her word.

As a witness to a pre-sprawl, pre-Vail, pre-John Denver period of the Colorado Rockies, she is fairly readable and considerably entertaining. And her precise and photographic descriptions of the people and landscape are invaluable. You just have to keep in mind that she's looking (which is to say, judging everything) through the lens of a smug 19th century Englishwoman.

This is a remarkable look at the untamed American West of 1834-1837 through the eyes of a young naturalist. Despite its age, this account is quite readable. The smaller segments describing Townsend's visits to Hawaii, Tahiti and Chile are also enjoyable.

Since this is a diary, it does have some flat spots (not every day can be an adventure), but mostly Townsend fills his descriptions with details and color that bring his encounters alive. You can sense Townsend maturing as the journey goes on. One suggestion to the editors: If a new edition is produced, it would be nice to include a map of Townsend's travels, because in some places it's hard to tell where he is.

A tip to the reader: Skip the introduction, since it's mostly just a summary of what you'll be reading. It does, however, contain a description of what happened to Townsend after the book, so go back and read that once you finish.

hi everyone, please buy, read and cherish this book! you would not believe how much work went into this - I know because I'm the author's daughter. BUY BUY BUY! :) thanks

I would add to the previous review that the first chapter provides a critique of Paul Shepard's thesis that our society is broken, and will never become whole again until we return to our hunter-gatherer roots. I was interested in this because I am a big Paul Shepard fan and have not before seen a critique of his ideas from a source I can respect. I don't know that Flores even gets Shepard's ideas completely straight, and I wish he had devoted more space to his critique, but at least it's something to get you thinking about.

I hope I haven't turned off those looking for a more straight-forward natural history of the West and southern plains, because except for that first chapter, that's what this book is- and it's excellent in its digestible chapters on components of this region.

Everyone always loves the West -- people hike the mountains for adventure, they hide out in the small towns when they're broke, and they buy ranchettes when they have money. The West is like a big old classic car that symbolizes something dependable and that people love to get in and hit the road -- the loooong road. "The Natural West" is for those brave enough to get under the hood and see how that car operates.

"Environmental History" is a fairly recent discipline, coming out of conventional history meeting ecology and the changing understanding of what a human being really is. Dan Flores is a hip guy with a smart take on the whole field. He's out there hiking, taking photos (they're in the book), running his wolf-dog, building his adobe house, and fighting the exotic weeds on his acreage -- and all the time he's thinking, "How does this work? How does all this fit together?"

Not that he will hand you a lot of predigested answers. This book, broken into chapters by region, is a tool kit, a beginner's manual, a map to the territory. It's a place to start getting under the hood and finding out how the motor really works. He's handed you all the clues.

This is a book to keep on hand and return to. Every revisitation will reveal the beginning of a new trail.

Do not read the introduction before you read the book!!!! Gifford explains why it wasn't made into a movie by giving away the surprise ending. I can't believe they put that in the book. It is a wonderful story about an Eastern Kentucky family in the WWII era that wastes the insurance money from thier dead son....)Hope you enjoy the book!

This book gives a look in the life of uneducated folks in the hills of Kentucky, and how money can make a change in thier life and relatives life. The language is true to the region this story happens in, and the life-style is factual. A book that can give a reader insight in the life of mountain people doesnt come along very often. The author has lived this life and know how to tell a story using his past experience

As with any book on making your home more efficient, a grain of salt must be held at the ready. Saving $50 a year may be a goldmine to some and may just be a private victory against oil corporations to others. Still, with all the info in this book, you'd have to be pretty wasteful to not recoup the purchase prise pretty quick!

Like the previous critic, I advise the ever-present grain of salt when reading anything that has yet to be proven scientifically. . . Like the wrapping of the water heater HAS. You WILL save energy and in turn money by doing so. So much to the point that the state of California now provides Water Heater Blankets with installation, free of charge, to anyone that wants one. Soon it will be a requirement.

The advice in this book spans the gamut-- everything from "First, go after holes a cat could crawl through." to triple-paned windows that take decades to pay for themselves. Whether you're looking to save a few quick bucks, or you approach conservation from an aesthetic, save-the-planet viewpoint, there is plenty here to keep you busy. Some of the advice is controversial (vapor barriers in attics) and some is bogus (wrapping your hot water heater, which is probably well insulated already), but the treatment of the subject appears thorough and reasonably practical.

Like the previous critic, I advise the ever-present grain of salt when reading anything that has yet to be proven scientifically. . . Like the wrapping of the water heater has. You WILL save energy and in turn money by doing so. So much to the point that the state of California now provides Water Heater Blankets with installation, free of charge, to anyone that wants one. Soon it will be a requirement.

In 1895, Benjamin Star leaves San Francisco for Denver at about the same time that Diane Buchannan leaves DC for the Mile High City. Benjamin was raised by the Shoshoni who rescued him from a fire as an infant, travels like a native; Diane rides the train to join her grandparents who raised her when her parents died. Diane plans to help her beloved family with the financially failing "Colonel Buck Buchannan's Wild West Show" as a trick rider and lariat artist.

Employees of the show led by the Cherokee Kid bring in a savage dubbed "the Redman of the Rockies". Though afraid of him, Diane feels sorry for the captive. Unable to ignore the ignorant brute, she frees him, but he abducts her. On their trek she pleads with the "Beast" to free her when he suddenly speaks perfect English because he is Benjamin. After overcoming the shock that he is not some feral savage, Diane frees the attraction she hid from herself and soon she and Benjamin fall in love. However, the nasty Cherokee Kid wants Diane for himself and he will not stop until he kills the Beast and takes the Beauty his style.

Indian romance readers will gain much pleasure from Nan Ryan's latest tale, WRITTEN IN THE STARS that is more of a westernized Beauty and the Beast. The action-packed story line never slows down even before the abduction. The lead couple is a delight and most of the support cast provides depth to their personalities. However, the Cherokee Kid is so nasty he subtracts from a powerful historical romance.

Harriet Klausner

The beginning of the story was a little slow, however, things soon picked up and ended with a bang! Great, great romance scenes!

Like the other reader before me stated in his review, the story started out a little slow...But that all changed as soon as the Redman of the Rockies came into the Wild West Show, and Diane finds herself helplessly compelled to the man. A MUST READ! This has to be one of the best romances I have ever read!